Eric Lott is a rock star to David Yaffe, an assistant professor of English at Syracuse University.

Lott, a professor at the University of Virginia will give a lecture Friday at 3 p.m. in Room 500 of the Hall of Languages, according to an SU News Release. Lott is the chosen speaker for the Stephen Crane Annual Lecture, which is free and open to the public.Lott wrote ‘Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class,’ a novel that deals with racism in the entertainment industry during the Jim Crow era. Yaffe said it was ‘a brave book to write because it could have offended a lot of people.’ Bob Dylan reportedly borrowed the words ‘Love and Theft’ for his album title from Lott’s book, Yaffe said. Lott responded by titling one of his later books ‘Tangled Up in Blue,’ a song by Dylan.The lecture series focuses on various areas of American literature, with lectures given by literary scholars of high stature. This is meant to honor Stephen Crane, one of SU’s most noteworthy alumni. Crane had an enormous effect on the literary world and is best known for his 1891 Civil War novel, ‘The Red Badge of Courage,’ according to the release.Lott will discuss Joni Mitchell, the subject of his newest book. Lott said he thinks Mitchell corresponds well with the ideal of the lecture series.’Like Crane, she’s restless, a bit of an adventurer, and someone who likes exploring certain less talked about sides of life — from the lowest to the most exalted,’ Lott said in email.Lott has also lectured on the politics of the United States’ cultural history, and his writing has been featured in several periodicals. Lott is a senior invited fellow at Cornell University.’I think the talk will interest anyone who cares about pop life, pop music, the knotty problems of race and culture and the pop culture history of Los Angeles,’ Lott said. ‘I’ll try to suggest why artists from Prince to Janet Jackson to Herbie Hancock have been so fascinated by Joni Mitchell.’But Mitchell is not the only person who inspires people. Yaffe said Lott inspired him while he wrote his very first novel, and he believes that Friday’s lecture could hold the same effect. Said Yaffe: ‘Wherever people are traveling in the world of ideas, going to this is a way of being inspired.’kmrich01@syr.edu